Railroaded

What's totally unpopular to say about the Napa Valley Wine Train incident is "yeah, I can see at least one of those women being too loud."  But I think the truth is many of us have been on public transportation or a group trip or something....with the loud black woman a couple rows behind us.  Some of us might have even been the loud black woman.  And when I read the articles and I look at the interviews...say what you wanna say, but I think we have somewhat of an idea what probably went down before the women were asked to leave.  Now whether putting them off the train was the best solution is not for me to decide.  More than likely I wouldn't have done it.  I can't imagine my mother or grandmother being kicked off and forced to stand in the middle of nowhere.  But then again, I can't imagine my mother or grandmother being that disruptive either.

In situations like these one must consider the history of muzzling women (especially black women) in this country.  Case and point, the Equal Rights Amendment that was designed to guarantee women equality in all facets of American life still hasn't passed since the 1920s.  The term land of the free definitely has levels; with black women being the on lowest since forever.  And while that fact does have a foundation in this issue, it's not the substance.

I believe we're simply talking about behavior, although that sounds extremely juvenile.  And not just from the book club either.  What about the other passengers who suddenly had an established threshold of noise on an alcohol infused train ride?  What about the NVWT employees that couldn't communicate the need (with supporting policy) for respectable noise levels during the ride in a more general manner.  And yes, we can't forget about the book club that just [allegedly] couldn't keep it classy.  To me, it all sounds like a powder keg of emotions and view points about what fun should be and no one was willing to compromise.

Yet in this lies the heart of what humility is.  We often think of this skill as minimizing yourself when you know you've offended or you're wrong.  Actually, truly being humble is gathering yourself when you are absolutely right.  When Jesus was asked about paying the temple taxes in Matthew 17, he reminded his disciples that usually, the governments family members (as Jesus and his disciples were) don't pay taxes.  But just so they wouldn't offend the people making the rules or those who had an interpretation of the rules, they paid the tax.  Although Jesus was totally correct, He still humbled Himself.

This is what didn't happen in Napa Valley.  There was too much I'm right and their wrong, rude, etc.  In the end, you have an embarrassing move for all parties involved and a possible legal settlement...completely unnecessary for a party on wheels where nothing got damaged and no one got injured.  Were the book club members really too loud?  Were the other passengers really too snobbish?  Were the NVWT employees insensitive to a group of guests?  Maybe, maybe not.  But no one was humble enough to let it be what it was...a booze cruise...and on booze cruises people get loud.

We have to get to a point where we realize that in most instances it's never about just us.

Peace